Santa Clara Men's Basketball - Focus on the "Cons" to Get More "Pros"

 

                                                                                                                        

After 14 pre-season games, we've seen what kind of performances our new roster makeover is capable of.  They are capable of four high quality NET ranking wins on the road and capable of two losses to beatable teams outside the top 150.  They are capable of shooting a higher percentage from the three point line than from the free throw line.  They are capable of 20 assist games and 26 turnovers games.   So far, the thing we need to be more capable of is consistency which breeds confidence.  

All things considered, 9-5 is pretty good.  IMHO, 11-4 was probably our best pre-season record.  Our record includes wins and losses due injuries to opponents and to us.  All teams have injuries to starters, but our bench has not been capable enough, in some of the losses, to compensate.  

It's harder to win when you pass the ball more to your opponents than your teammates.  In our last five games, we have 82 turnovers against 72 assists resulting 93 points against us.  In spite of this, we were in position to win two more of those games because we don't give up and can really shoot the ball.  We have six players that shoot better than 50% from the field.  We have three players who shoot over 40% from three point range; including Carlos Marshall with a gaudy 49% from three.  This is an elite level on par with the top five ranked NCAA teams.  

To fans watching, it looks like we try to do too much off the dribble in traffic and get balls knocked away.  One other consequence of dribble, dribble is other players stop cutting and moving to make themselves available for an open shot as our opponents defense collapses to stop drives. We are at our best when the ball moves to quality open shots, which as you can see from above, we are quite capable of knocking down.

Consistency moving the ball many times starts with capable guard play.  This is still a work in process with so many new players.  As an example, we've had different guards each year for the past four seasons that were new to the Sendek system.  Not easy.  Lately we've settled on Brenton Knapper at point with Adama Bal handling late in games.  Knapper has shown so far to be capable in this role with improved shooting and few turnovers.

So, what's the key to this elusive consistency?  Pick your favorite hall of fame basketball coach and you'll read there isn't a secret sauce.  Bulls Coach Phil Jackson's said of the Michael Jordan led teams, "You prepare hard for every game and once it starts you have to let go of the outcome."

In this season, we've certainly seen outcomes that are both exciting and traumatizing.  Sometimes the simplest approach works.  As players do the things they know they are capable of and rely on your teammates for the same.  Don't just fall in love with the three, dribble into traffic, and move the ball to your teammates for their most capable play.  It feels like when we try to do too much we end up with too little.  

This afternoon versus Yale will test all of the above.  They are a St. Mary's style team.  They play slow, play tough on defense, and will try to dissect us in the half court exploiting the mismatches they create.  Good news for us is Tilly will be back and Caffaro is now healthy after nagging injuries.

So to get more Pros, let's focus on the Cons.  Consistency, Confidence in what we are capable of, Connecting with our teammates on the floor and, maybe as a Consequence of that, we'll put ourselves in Consideration for a post season invite!

Santa Clara Men's Basketball - Are We On The Rebound?

                                                                                                        

If the Broncos are going to make some noise in the WCC and have any shot at the post season, we need to rebound from our rebounding.  The sordid details are that in our last four games, we've given up 58 offensive rebounds resulting in 54 second chance points.  Add to that 64 turnovers in those four games resulting in 64 point off turnovers.  Huge.

Granted this team is a work in process, but we need to find a Chairman of the Boards.   Someone with a "tude".  We're big enough, but we need to play big enough.   Maybe a guy like Cam Tongue.   He scores tough inside and has half the bigger guys rebounds in one-third of their minutes.  

To be fair, we get a rebound, but don't secure it and have it swatted away.  Opposing coaches are smart learning that officials look up for rebounding fouls, but not down when control is being established.  It's hard to watch small guards slap the ball away from seven footers. 

IMHO, a similar issue with our turnovers.   Feisty defenses hold us and slap at the ball off the dribble where refs won't make that call.  They know we are thin at point guard and totally overplay passing lanes daring us to make the backdoor cut pass which, when we do, is quite successful when our guys keep moving. 

To rebound from our poor rebounding, we need to focus on the power of 10.  Against good teams, when we allow 10 or fewer offensive rebounds and commit 10 or fewer turnovers, we win.   How do we consistently apply the power of 10?   Rebound.  

That's our engine.  Our athletes are really good in the open court from an outlet pass secured by, you guessed it, a rebound.  In our Quad 1 wins, we've pushed the ball up the court and our guys got open lanes to the rim or an uncontested three.  It works.  Open court passes are easier AND prevents us from slogging it away in half court sets where we tend to bog down and turn the ball over. 

 With three games to go before league, we could use three 10's.  We're Hoping for a 11-4 preseason, but 10-5 with our tough schedule gives us the opportunity for a post season nod with 10 or more WCC wins. 

And that's a rebound we are all looking forward to!

Santa Clara Men's Basketball - Fall Quarter Examinations

 

                                                                                                            

Fall quarter exams ended and grades are due on December 13th.  With the first quarter of the season over, it's time to review our report card.  Some say the numbers don't lie, but with a record of 7-3 the numbers/grades don't seem to add up.  After the New Mexico blowout in Las Vegas, all bets are off.

In our two quad 1* wins vs Stanford and Oregon, we showed "A" student talent.  We shot well, defended well, rebounded and made free throws.  In our three losses, none of that has happened.  Our numbers vs Ohio State:  38% 2 pt, 30% 3 pt, 50 % FT, 15 TO's.  Versus Cal: 38% 2 pt, 34.5% 3 pt, 50% FT, 10 TO's. Versus New Mexico:  our starters were 28% 2 pt, 20% 3 pt, and committed 18 turnovers!  In those games, we gave up 47 second chance points and had more turnovers than assists.  We flunked.  

Going 2-3 vs a top 25, a Pac-12 team, and Kenpom 33 ranked New Mexico isn't terrible.  More alarming is the dispersion/drop-off from the Stanford and Oregon wins.  When we're off, we're really off.  In our three losses, we were outplayed and out scored 126-84 in the first half.  

Every team has bad nights.  Even a purported deeper bench couldn't keep us in those games.  But it was like we weren't even there.  

Some other numbers from Kenpom rankings:  our 2022-2023 record was 23-10.  Of 363 NCAA teams, we ranked 85th overall.  Offense 84, Defense 94, and Tempo (how fast you play) 46th.  This season to date, of course, on a smaller sample size, we rank Overall 142, Offense 129, Defense 174, and Tempo 89.  

Frankly, with the higher level talent than past years and more depth, fans have witnessed a team that has a similar record at this time last year, but with stats that are well below last season.  The numbers do lie in that we have season to date two higher quality wins with stats that would have suggested losses like Ohio State, Cal, and New Mexico. 

Understandable with eight newcomers.  However, most of them come with D1 creds and some of the lapses are just playing ball: defending key players, rebounding, making free throws, protecting the ball and success in the paint.  That I don't get.  Instead, we looked befuddled and stagnant on offense and defense against these tougher opponents.  Maybe we're not running a scheme that takes advantage of these new players' strengths? 

A big important stretch awaits us and there are no layups here.  I'd love 4-2, but would take 3-3.  Last season we lost 4 of 6 games and then went on to win 7 straight.  We need that resiliency.  I think the capability is there and the coaches need to "unlock" it.  

We've finished our first quarter examinations, but there's a lot more homework and big tests ahead.  Whether you grade us a B, C, or D it doesn't really matter.  What matters is pushing for the "A" as in attitude, aggressiveness, that accelerates our drive for an NCAA bid and "Mission  Accomplished!"

* Quad 1: a win at home against teams ranked 1-30, win at a neutral venue against teams in the top 50, and an away win against teams in the Top 75.

Quad 1 wins count the most towards NET ranking which is used for NCAA seeding.